Change of iridium plugs on NB SE after 60 months

[93_Clubman]

If you want an extra laugh, the cost to replace the high beam bulb in labour only was $21.00.

Hate to think what the globe cost.

[Caffeine]

find yourself a decent private workshop to look after ALL your cars

Indeed, after many stuff ups by various un-named dealers, I now take my cars to an independent workshop.

Examples:

• Dealer forgets to tighten diff bolts after warranty repair on clutch, diff bolts proceed to fall out a few weeks later. Diff bolts are longer than the ground clearance of the car = hell of a noise and quite a mess.
  
• Dealer charges $30ish dollars to replace wiper blades, dealer cuts off wrong end of blades when trimming to suit (the end that has the clip to hold it in) = major rain storm, turn on wipers, blades fling off into the middle distance somewhere, leaving the wiper frames to scrape across the windshield
  
• Dealer 'fixes' damaged headlight connector by cutting connector off and electrical taping wires into the back of the globe
  
• Dealer charges $40 or so on 3 occasions to repair punctures, when tyres are later removed for replacement, no evidence of punctures or repairs is present

and so on...

The independent workshop charges slightly more than the dealer, but they take photos of all work, before, during and after. They keep all replaced parts to show you when you pick up the car, explaining what was changed and why. They also source quality parts, and charge me less than I could buy the parts myself. Their labour charges are acceptable and there is certainly no padding going on.

On one occasion where I did have a problem (newly installed timing belt jumped 2 teeth, causing major power loss and poor performance) the independent workshop took the car back, replaced all affected parts, and also contacted all other recent timing belt customers and replaced their timing belts too (one other owner had a similar problem, very soon after mine). They also stopped using that supplier for all replacement belts, and moved to a higher end supplier.

tl:dr? Dealer bad, independent workshop slightly dearer, but confidence that work has been done properly.

[93_Clubman]

Yeah, have heard some horror stories, so I always do a visual inspection of areas of vehicle where work has been carried out - not that it will reveal all, but better than taking it on trust.

[Caffeine]

Yeah, have heard some horror stories, so I always do a visual inspection of areas of vehicle where work has been carried out - not that it will reveal all, but better than taking it on trust.

Yeah unfortunately you can't see everything. My 100000km service was done by the dealer, and the 200000km done by the independent workshop. From the condition of some of the parts, it was obvious that they had not been replaced at the 100000km service as they should have been.

[project.r.racing]

tl:dr? Dealer bad, independent workshop slightly dearer, but confidence that work has been done properly.

dunno about the area you live in. but all the single person privately owned workshops in my area charge $80-$90 per hour. the dealerships are $30-$50 more per hour.

i like the indipendents as for the reasons you have discribed, and they want your repeat business, so they look after you. mine also give me a hours free labour if i introduce a new customer to him etc.

[aviper4u]

On one occasion where I did have a problem (newly installed timing belt jumped 2 teeth, causing major power loss and poor performance) the independent workshop took the car back, replaced all affected parts, and also contacted all other recent timing belt customers and replaced their timing belts too (one other owner had a similar problem, very soon after mine). They also stopped using that supplier for all replacement belts, and moved to a higher end supplier.

im no mechanic but i have changed timing belts before and dont see how a correctly installed timing belt could "jump" two teeth and then the motor continue to run with loss of power as after several revolutions the motor would lose time as the belt wouldnt do its job and eventually stall the motor

sounds to me like it wasnt put on right in the first place and needed to be corrected?

[Caffeine]

im no mechanic but i have changed timing belts before and dont see how a correctly installed timing belt could "jump" two teeth and then the motor continue to run with loss of power as after several revolutions the motor would lose time as the belt wouldnt do its job and eventually stall the motor

sounds to me like it wasnt put on right in the first place and needed to be corrected?

Nope, it was put on correctly and the car ran perfectly for a week or so after the service. The belt jumped while I was driving, at high rpm, suddenly the car spluttered and would barely run. Stopped and checked all the stuff I could see, plugs, wires, cool packs etc, chugged my way back to the mechanic and they discovered the belt had jumped.

And yes, timing belts aren't meant to do that. Hence the change of supplier.

[eskimo]

Some T/Belts with hydraulic tensioners have adjustable pulley setting that must be set correctly (some Mitsi's, Hyundais, ETC)
If incorrectly set up the tensioner can release tension on a tight side of the belt when the motor is off. When you go to start it
the belt can jump one or two teeth before the tensioner resets itself. This can happen within a day or two or possibly longer if
dependant on where the engine stops at switch off.

The belt jumped while I was driving, at high rpm, suddenly the car spluttered and would barely run.

Obviously not the case here, but I must say in 20+ years on the W/shop floor I have never seen a belt failure that wasn't caused
by fitter/set up error. Bit of a concern if your w/shop was using such poor quality parts. Could it possibly be a Tech blaming the
part unnessassarily and front of house having to make excuses to back him up, wouldn't be the first time. I'm not saying your shop
is bad but every bussiness is only as good as it's employees and sometimes the employees can pull the wool over the bosses eyes aswell.